How to Speak to Dragons without Speaking Dragonese
by Eigee
Summary: It is well known that Hiccup is not your average Viking. He and Toothless understand each other in a special way. But something upsets Hiccup and it's up to Toothles discover what it is. UPDATE: 5TH CHAPTER
1. A Friend's Intuition

**A/N: Hey you guys! I know, I know... It's been wayyy too long since I wrote something, but I'm back! (: School's over and I'm ready to roll :D So do expect more fics. As for this one fic, it'll be interesting. I hate that it's too much of a lead but hopefully I didn't got carried away with it. We'll see some angsty Hiccup! (: and well, some more stuff... Until next chapter, enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own HTTYD or any of its characters... which is a pity, but what can I do. It all belongs to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell. **

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How to Speak with a Dragon without Actually Speaking Dragonese

A HTTYD Fanfic by Avatard n_n

Chapter 1: A Friend's Intuition

Toothless always knew. He always knew when Hiccup felt down or upset; he didn't need to speak human language to know. It would only take him to look at Hiccup's expressive stares to know what was going on. In a way it was unexplainably magical, it was like they could read each other's thoughts. Hiccup, likewise would always guess Toothless' pains and troubles. But now that he thought of it, Toothless hadn't seen much of Hiccup lately.

Toothless raised his head hoping to catch a glimpse of a much distracted Hiccup sketching on the dirt as usual, or swirling the pond water with his hand, or sitting by the rock fixing a new invention for Toothless to try on… Places, things that Hiccup would usually be doing while waiting for his dragon friend to wake up from his afternoon nap but there were no traces of the human hatchling. Toothless sighed, he hadn't seen Hiccup for three days in a row and frankly, he was getting hungry. But something caught his attention; a sound. Even for his sensible hearing sense it was tough to pick up. He didn't know what to call it; a cough, a sigh, panting, whimpering, laughing, crying… Toothless tried to focus, if anything, he'd learn a few human words but they sounded so alike it confused him…

"Ah," Toothless sniffed. "They're hiccups." Hiccups, ironical enough, Toothless decided content with his discovery. They were coming from a crack in one of the corners of the cove. Cautiously he walked to the source of these noises, yet, something else distracted him; it was a smell, the smell of—

"Fish!" Toothless purred excitedly. It was Hiccup's fishing net and it laid exactly by the entrance to the cove. That's where Hiccup leaves it every time he comes to visit him. Excited more so, Toothless roamed the cove with his sight to meet Hiccup's figure but it was empty. No one was there. Toothless groaned disappointed; Hiccup must've been too busy to stick around and he was asleep while his friend came. What a waste, another afternoon alone, stuck to the ground. He shrugged it off; at least he had something to fill his belly with. This is how he decided not to worry about Hiccup's lately busier agenda and dug his head into the basket catching three fish at a time and chomping them at once.

As Toothless was about to begin with his "dessert"—Icelandic fish, he heard those little noises again. Only this time they were mixed with quiet sobbing and hard breathing. This time he caught something else.

"Hiccup?" He sniffed, dropping the fish at once. He walked to the crack, which now that he observed carefully, was more of a tiny cave. The kind of cave only Hiccup would fit in.

"Hiccup?" He sniffed again. He smelled of wet earth, something sweet, sea, and dragon; probably a Zippleback. Yep, that was Hiccup alright. No Viking in Berk smelled of dragons.

"Are you alright?" He whimpered. The sobbing became intensified as he made himself present to his friend.

"Toothless…" The human hatchling spoke with a broken voice. That couldn't be good. It was never good. In that instant Toothless felt his very blood begin to boil in rage. Oh, let the gods save that sad excuse of a Viking responsible for Hiccup's grief. He'd burn them. No, scratch that. He'd burn them and their family, and then he would come back at night to burn down their house and eat them while they slept only to puke them out and kill them, then he'd burn them again and he'd dance on their ashes. That's what he would do.

"Who did this?" Toothless growled angrily. Hiccup hiccupped but kept quiet and Toothless insisted. "Come on kid, I need names; a list full of them." He growled again.

"Not today, Toothless." Hiccup muttered. "I don't feel very well, buddy."

"Come out." The dragon demanded in a wild snarl.

"Toothless, please no. I need to be alone, okay?" Hiccup pleaded to appease his dragon's growls and snarls. Toothless sniffed and whimpered, poking his right eye into the cave. He met with only a shadow, and a pair of luminescent little lights; Hiccup's eyes.

"Toothless, leave me alone!" Hiccup cried in frustration. But he couldn't really make out the origin of that frustration; the fact that he yelled to his best friend, or the fact that he had never been "man" enough to be able to abstain from crying whenever he needed to. He heard Toothless whining, and then leaving, brushing his paws to the ground.

Hiccup sighed enraged with himself. He groaned and pulled his hair, aware that all of the recent devastating events were his entire fault.

"I AM SO STUPID!" He roared only to collapse onto his knees. And there, in the midst of darkness; alone and afraid, he cried his grief out. He was aware that Toothless would be vigilant to anything he said or did but he didn't really care. Today was Hiccup's turn to be mad at everyone; even Toothless. He was never selfish, he never held grudges despite the humiliation he goes through every day of his existence in Berk, he never really cared about what people said. But today, today he had ENOUGH of it.

Meanwhile, as Hiccup predicted, Toothless waited outside the cave patiently. He gave Hiccup his space, just like he does with him. A guy is a guy dragon or not. In that way, Toothless understood Hiccup's need for isolation. In all the time he waited, he never heard Hiccup stop crying or hiccupping. Funny that he should hiccup when he cried. Ironical up to a point; even.

"Hiccup?" Toothless purred when he felt it was a good time to persuade the human teen to come out of the cave again. "Come on, tell me. You can tell me what happened. Who am I going to gossip with? Your dad? I don't think so." That was a long purr, yet nothing resulted of it.

"I know." Toothless exclaimed in his dragon sounds. He sprinted to his basket and pulled out his dessert. "Good thing I didn't eat them! Hiccup doesn't like when I share already swallowed fish." He went back to the cave and placed the fish in front of the crack. He sniffed to call Hiccup's attention.

"No, Toothless." Hiccup pushed the fish away and that's when he saw it. As Hiccup's hand came into the sunlight, Toothless spotted a burn; a burn that apparently extended itself along the arm. Toothless widened his eyes, alarmed.

"Alright, kid. That's it! You're coming out. It's an order." Toothless screeched while he scratched the stone forcing the crack of the cave to crack even more.

"No, Toothless! Stop!" Hiccup exclaimed trying to push Toothless away. It was only when Toothless backed out that he fell face first to the ground.

"Ugh…" He complained in a muffled sound. He stood up allowing Toothless to take his whole picture in. He was wearing a different outfit; the same green shirt but sleeveless due to the fact his arms were burnt. His left wrist had bandages and so did his right knee. He had a black eye and both his green eyes were tinted with red, they were puffy and swollen because of how much he'd cried. Finally, due to his clumsiness, he now wore a coat of dirt on his face in general.

Toothless snarled shocked "What in the world happened to you?" But something funny happened when he met Hiccup's eyes to find the answer. He looked away. Hiccup looked away ashamed. Toothless whined, he didn't understand. Why didn't Hiccup want Toothless to know what was going on? They were friends; friends don't hide things from each other. He felt hurt, he felt betrayed, but most of all, he felt worried. Hiccup never hides things from him. NEVER.

He nudged Hiccup's head with his snout, pleading for an answer to his questions. Alarmed he saw tears were welling up in the boy's eyes again. He surrounded him with one of his wings but the heat of Toothless' body was too much to bear for Hiccup's tender and freshly burnt skin.

"Hiccup, tell me what happened." Toothless whined again, it was almost a cry. A beg.

"It'll only make it worse, trust me." Hiccup said with a dark tone, evading his friend's embrace.

He walked away, disposing himself to leave, but he sighed then stopped and moved his head disapprovingly.

"And then I just HAD to fall for it, didn't I?" He began. "I just can't believe it. I can't! I can't believe I have such a low concept of myself I have to bend to the others' will. It's so infuriating, so frustrating!" Toothless was about to interrupt with a sarcastic glance, but he let Hiccup rant. He needed it. Even teen dragons have their mood swings, he knew about this.

"I made a fool of myself, I hurt innocent people!" Hiccup complained, feeling his throat tying up. "And then that…that DEVIL!"He growled. "That dragon!" He stopped. No, that's an understatement. He froze, Hiccup seemed petrified. He looked to Toothless, who assumed a very docile position to the very word "devil". Hiccup didn't need to speak dragon language to know what that look and the following whimper meant.

"I'm not a devil." He whined.

"No, no… Toothless that's not what I meant. You're not. You're different. You're good. You're not like the other dragons." Toothless narrowed his eyes a little, not pleased.

"Argh!" Hiccup groaned again. "See? This is exactly what I mean. This, this here is what got me into all… this." He said signaling his whole body. "Ugh…" Hiccup sighed. He felt Toothless right next to him.

"I'm not a good Viking, am I?" Hiccup asked deceived of himself. Toothless moved his head from side to side. Hiccup sighed but Toothless licked him in an attempt to cheer him up. After a bit of tickling and playing around Hiccup felt better and ready to tell the awful tale, reason why he hadn't visited Toothless for three days. Reason why he was acting very un-Hiccup-like and a little more like a Viking.

The sun was beginning to set and Toothless ripped a tree which later destroyed to light a fire for Hiccup so he wouldn't get cold. After the proper preparations both sat by the fire, Toothless stared at his friend with the uttermost attention. Like a little boy who's being told the old dragon legends that swirl around Berk.

"So, it all began the other day in the woods…"

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**a/n: Alrighty, that's that for the first chapter. I hope it wasn't too confusing. In case it was, Toothless is not able to talk, I just "translated" his dragon sounds (: So, that being said, I hope you enjoyed it! Please remember to review (: and keep tuned for the next chapter :D**


	2. How to Push Hiccup's Buttons

**A/N: Alrighty! I present you the second instalment in this fic :) It took me longer than I thought to finish it, and please bear with me the ridiculous length -I was inspired :D what can I say? I have too much fun writing HTTYD fics :P Also, thank you guys so much for the awesome support you've given me for this one. I loved every single review ^_^ thanks! With no more delay, I hope you enjoy this and that it answers the questions you had about sad Hiccup ): **

**Disclaimer: Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks own the awesome HTTYD series.**

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How to Speak with a Dragon without Actually Speaking Dragonese

A HTTYD Fanfic by Avatard n_n

Chapter 2: How to push Hiccup's buttons

Toothless seemed to begin to lose his patience when Hiccup began.

"So, like I said, it all happened in the woods but I gotta give you the background. You know I don't like incomplete explanations." Toothless made a tiny toothless grin.

"I was at Gobber's shop, like every other morning when I don't have dragon training." Toothless nodded. Hiccup locked his gaze with Toothless, then sighed uneasily and continued.

"Well, anyway," He turned his eyes to the dancing flakes of the fire, the only thing illuminating the cove now that it was dark and there was no moon. A night for a Night Fury, he thought. "I was about to get packed some stuff to try on you but the kids in dragon training interrupted me. They came down to visit." Toothless raised the equivalent to an eyebrow, turning his expression skeptical and suspicious.

"I know, I know… At first I thought it was weird, too. But remember how I've told you I'm sort of a celebrity back at town nowadays? … I guess it was due to that they came. Otherwise they wouldn't have been so pleasing. But to tell you the truth, I was flattered. More than flattered actually, I was excited; I've never really had friends. –Except for you, of course.

I had to hide all of your things real quick because they wanted me to hang out with them. Like usual, I tried to distract them but it didn't work this time. I asked them what was up and then Fishlegs said that since we had a day off from dragon training, they were going to have some sort of picnic in the woods and they genuinely wanted me with them. Can you believe it?" Hiccup finished excitedly, even a little awed.

"I told them I had some work to finish at the shop but even Astrid persuaded me." Toothless widened his eyes and then he gave a little teasing smirk. "I was really awestruck so I did agree. Besides, I wouldn't be able to come here or stay at home without doubt eating my conscience alive. I went so I would lead them away from the trail to the cove. I packed my notebook –the one I've shown you, and my pencil, just in case. And off we were…

'Hiccup, hurry up!' Astrid called for me, in a pleasant mood. I actually was beginning to wonder if I had fell asleep in dragon training, it felt surreal. I mean, I would expect for the other kids to try be my friends after I became the "dragon tamer" but Astrid? No, this was major, Toothless." Hiccup noticed he was getting a little more excited so he paused for a second, stared at Toothless intensely, pondering on something, then he resumed the tale.

"Anyway, I was getting tired fast so I asked them where we were going and Fishlegs said 'Oh, we're settling by Idun's cascades… you know, just ahead the trail to the inlands.' I froze; it sounded a lot like we'd get really close to here. I didn't know what to do, but it wasn't like I had a plan to mislead them, so I just hoped for the best." Toothless looked quizzically at Hiccup.

"So _did_ they get close or what?" Toothless purred.

"You know what, Toothless. I think Astrid suspects. Because when we passed the path to the cove she stared at me. Ever since I stumbled across her she's been checking on me really close… I don't know why."

"Maybe because she's got a crush on you." Toothless growled teasingly, shaking his shoulders like he were dancing. Hiccup just rolled his eyes and flushed a little.

"I already told you," Hiccup said faking being annoyed while he elbowed him. "She doesn't like me." He said; trying really hard to keep his expression clear, something in between doubt and reassurance was mixing within him.

"Whatever you say, Hiccup." Toothless rolled his eyes too, chuckling to himself. "Keep going."

"Anyway, we didn't even get near the actual trail. Yes, the cascades are in this general direction, but you know the landscape here is very confusing." Hiccup was interrupted by an impatient growl.

"Cut the crap, Hiccup! Get to the point."

"Alright, alright, gosh! I told you, you need to know the details first."

"Well, hurry up!" Toothless whined and then rubbed his nose with both paws as a sign of impatience.

"Okay, okay. So the journey was becoming really awkward. No one talked, they just walked. I became a little anxious so I tried to relax the mood.

I said 'So, are your hangouts always this… lively?' Didn't work, they just looked at each other with a funny expression. Like yours right now, as if they were thinking 'Is Hiccup always this awkward?'… Hey!" Hiccup protested. "I'm not awkward!" That's exactly the opposite of what Toothless was thinking, though. "Well… maybe just a little. But you can't really blame me, the only people I talk to are Gobber and you –but you can't really talk so I guess it doesn't really count." Hiccup saw Toothless was becoming impatient again so he went back to the story.

"My point here is they began making uncomfortable questions… First was Tuffnut.

'So, Hiccup… how'd you learn so fast to pick up a shield?' He said chuckling." Toothless growled, getting angry.

"No, no. He didn't mean to tease me. I mean he did, but not to harm me or anything. I actually felt glad about it. A little trivia about humans is that when they make little jokes about you it's because you're being accepted. So, going back to the story, Snotlout commented too.

'Yeah, it's like you're a different person. We're gonna have to find you a new nickname. Hiccup the Useless has kinda lost its catch.' The others laughed; I did too but out of compromise.

'But really, Hiccup. What's your secret?' Ruffnut asked me. 'We're all dying to know'.

'Yeah, Hiccup. What's _your secret_?' Astrid intervened, asking me with a little too much intention –almost enough for it to become obvious to the rest." Toothless laughed.

"'I… I don't have one.' I answered them, smiling a little nervous. I swear by Thor, Toothless. The silence that followed felt so deep that if it hadn't been for Tuff's and Snotlout's laughing out loud, I would've bet I passed out.

'Come on, everyone has their secrets.' Snotlout said, 'Take me as an example, I know I'm the strongest, best looking Viking around here… _but_…'" Hiccup burst in laughter. Toothless just looked at him like Hiccup just went bonkers.

"I'm sorry buddy, it's just that… that… I had to get it out, y'know? Aw, man! If you could ever meet Snotlout you'd see what I'm talking about! He acts like he's THE Viking of Vikings, which is hilarious. I know I shouldn't laugh at him, after all I'm the one they call useless but _Snotlout_, Snotlout is something else, man… Okay, I'm done now. So he said 'but I'm not this good looking for free, you know? I heard that if you rub dragon poop on your face you get handsomer every time you do it. So I just do it every day, and since the day I discovered it, no face competes against Snotlout Jorgenson.'" By the time Hiccup finish quoting Snotlout, Toothless was already rolling on the floor laughing, which caused with very little effort for Hiccup to join him.

"See what I mean?" Hiccup said roaring in laughter.

"Aw man, dragon poop? Tell me where his house is. Seriously, what kind of an idiot buys that? I think I overestimated your folks, Hiccup." Toothless growled, still laughing too.

"I know, I know… He's definitely not the brightest in the lot, is he? And then, oh you'll love what I said next. I put my serious face, pretended to be very interested and said, 'Oh, that's actually interesting, Snotlout. In fact I think I've also heard something like that. I think that it does work but only if you use Night Furies''" Toothless laughed again, he was laughing so hard his tummy actually hurt. He'd never thought laughing so much would actually inflict pain. "And he actually believed it! Ha, ha, ha… And you say I've got no revenge skills." Toothless bowed down, mocking to be humbled and growled.

"You have learned well, young hatchling." Hiccup also bowed.

"My highest respects to you, Master Toothless." Unfortunately, the solemnity didn't last long, for in seconds they laughed again.

"Oh, and then Tuffnut… He said that his shirt brings him good luck to hunt dragons and that why he has never washed it. Which is absolutely disgusting and ridiculous, but the point is, it's also very funny. Then we turned to Fishlegs, I actually felt kind of sorry for him. He's the kind of person that does actually have real secrets. I didn't want to push too far, but the other guys forced him to tell. He told us he sleeps with a candlelight on because he's afraid a Nigh –a dragon might eat him." Toothless wasn't stupid, that Viking boy was afraid of his kind, and with much reason, he thought proud.

"What about the girls?" Toothless purred eager to find out more embarrassing secrets about Hiccup's newly acquired friends. He longed to laugh at Astrid. Even though Hiccup is in love with her, there's something about her that he doesn't like. From what he's heard, she always gets her way.

"So they came back to me,"

"And what did you say?" Toothless purred interested.

"I do actually have important secrets, and there wasn't anything embarrassing about me that they didn't already know. So I just said, 'My secret is that I have no secrets.' But I spotted Astrid rolling her eyes and muttering something about that not being true." Toothless dropped his ears, disappointed.

"You are such a party pooper." He growled.

"Wait, I'm not done telling." Hiccup said with a very un-Hiccup-ish devious smirk. Toothless imitated the expression. "Naturally, they didn't believe me –they're not that thick on the head, let's give them that. So I told them that eating raw fish helped, which is true but not necessarily in the way they think it does." Toothless blinked, that's actually very smart, he thought.

"The girls didn't say anything while we were making a fool of ourselves, but I didn't expect them to. It's like some kind of code; they never say anything about themselves to us. They just mutter among them. What I did expect though, was for them to be listening to every single word we said, unlike Viking guys, they're actually smarter. I had to watch out for them, especially since both of them were staring at me weird, like I was a pray to hunt or something. It made me feel self-conscious, so I did trip a lot while we walked.

After the conversation died they kept quiet again. That's something I like about us Vikings, if there's nothing to say, we don't talk. Anyway, we kept walking and then it was my turn to ask the questions.

'So you guys always do this when you have days off?' I asked them.

Snotlout shrugged and said 'Meh, yeah. Pretty much most of the time we just hang around the village or we have hunting trips, or sailing lessons; you know… the usual.' Of course, he forgot I'm not really acquainted with "the usual"

'It's pretty boring.' Fishlegs said, 'We just lay around waiting for our parents' orders and stuff. They're always like "you ain't goin' nowhere, you piece of useless kid! You're stickin' 'round where I can see ya. Understood?" Most of the time we're apprentices to whatever thing our parents do.'

'Really?' I asked a little surprised. I have to admit it, my life used to be boring because I had to stay at Gobber's shop and do whatever he asked of me but sometimes he would leave me by myself and I could do whatever I wanted. But they have to tag with their parents all day long. Can you imagine that? I can't even count the multiple things that would go wrong if I were to tag along with my dad." Hiccup said gladly.

"'Yeah,' Tuffnut said, a little surprised by my answer. 'Don't you have to do the same…?' He couldn't finish because his sister pinched him hard on his arm 'No, of course you don't.' He squeaked and Ruffnut let him go.

'Oh, I'm hurt. I'm very much hurt!' I chuckled.

'No, usually I just hang around the shop fixing things.' I told, for their general interest. Fishlegs seemed to be the most intrigued.

'What kinds of things do you fix?' I was flattered he actually wanted to know, but I tried to keep my cool. I shrugged as I successfully –for once– jumped a tree root.

'Meh… you know, normal stuff. Like your guys' axes. Gobber does the smithing, but I'm in charge of making the shields' nails, sharping the swords and axes, sand the wood for our ships, build parts for our torch posts, you know, simple stuff.'"

"Uh huh, simple stuff…" Toothless sarcastically interrupted.

"They all looked at me like I just grew another eye or something.

'And what do you with your free time? You're not allowed out.' Astrid asked for once.

'Um… I just sketch stuff. Gobber lets me use the tools in the shop, so long as I don't step out.'

'Oh, so you _design_ things.' She added.

'I guess you could say that… yeah. I design stuff.'

'Oh, oh! Like, the other day' Fishlegs intervened excitedly 'I had an idea of how to make our ships faster and I made a drawing and all but… um… I realized building it is harder than it looks.' I smiled condescendingly at him, nodding.

'Yeah, it takes a lot of practice and math.' I said. But their reaction was something to look at, Toothless.

'Math?' They all asked like I was talking in another language.

'What's math?' Ruffnut asked with a confused expression on her face.

'Numbers and calculations.' I said, 'It's like adding and subtracting and things like that. You use math to see if you're going the right way when you're building something. I sneaked out a book from my dad's room. He found it in his quest to the end of the world. But it was hard to read, it had –

'Wait, you like to _read_?' The twins exclaimed a little disgusted but I failed to see why.

'Yeah, well no. I just read to learn things I don't know. It's like a necessary pain…' I said that so I wouldn't look weirder, but for the record, I do like to read.

'The book I told you about though was really hard to figure out; it had very strange symbols and pretty pictures. Took me longer than I thought, but in the end I discovered the book was about something called Geometry, which helps people to build stuff.'

'That's really cool, Hiccup!' Fishlegs exclaimed, praising me.

'Yeah, sure; but it can't beat dragon slaying.' Snotlout said. '_That_ is cool. Plus, it attracts the ladies.' He said signaling to both Ruffnut and Astrid. Tuffnut smacked him hard on the head.

'What's your favorite dragon to fight, Hiccup?' Tuffnut asked. 'Mine's the Zippleback… it's very exotic.' As you can guess, I don't have an opinion on the subject so I just shrugged and hoped he didn't see I wasn't about to answer. Fortunately, Ruffnut interrupted.

'I think the Monstrous Nightmare is better.' She said, 'Gives you more of a name.'

'Hey, no fair. That's _my_ favorite dragon to kill!' Snotlout protested. 'What about you, baby?' He asked Astrid. I laughed because she didn't answer before punching him." Hiccup stopped and let Toothless laugh. There was a silence, Toothless looked at him with his wide green eyes and purred.

"What was her favorite?" Toothless asked but Hiccup looked uneasy.

"She said her favorite was the Night Fury. But that wasn't all,

'Oh, the same as Hiccup, then.' Fishlegs said. I looked incredulously at him.

'I don't have a favorite dragon to kill.' I said, but they all looked suspiciously at me. 'I mean, so long as they're dragons, right? He, he…' They paused for a very tense moment and but ultimately they agreed with me.

'Hey, aren't those the cascades?' I asked awed. Oh, boy. Toothless, I swear by Odin I have not seen another setting as beautiful as that. It was… wow, amazing. But, you know how I tend to speak out loud what I'm thinking?" Toothless nodded.

"Well, that wasn't the exception.

'Oh, man… Toothless has to see this.' I muttered.

'What was that?' Snotlout asked. 'Toothless? Who's Toothless?'

'Who? What? Who's Toothless?' I stuttered becoming aware I had said that out loud. 'Oh, Toothless! Ha, ha, ha… that's no one, no, no one… Ha, ha… just, my… um… pet. Yeah, my pet newt, Toothless.'" Toothless narrowed his eyes.

"A newt? You transformed me into a _newt_? How about an imaginary friend, huh? That would've been better." Toothless growled not pleased.

"I'm sorry, that's all I could've thought of. Now stop interrupting, I'm getting to the crucial part. So, we arrived to the cascades and settled. Conversationally, nothing interesting happened. I was actually hoping to get some time along with Astrid, but nope. She's completely out of my league. Anyway, we ate and then everyone got time to explore by themselves. Astrid and Ruffnut gossiped near the actual cascade, Tuffnut and Snotlout started a competition to see who could rip the largest tree root, Fishlegs wandered around and I sat to sketch a map for the cascades so you and me could come back some other day. But I felt strange in that place, like someone was watching us. And I swear I saw smoke coming from the cascade's cave, though I couldn't be sure, for all that I knew it could be the mist. Everything was going okay but then Fishlegs came out from a bush running to meet with us and then whispered 'Hey, you guys, come and check this out.'

I was reluctant to follow them; the look in Fishlegs eyes could only mean he had found some weird animal to poke at, or something. So I told them I'd pass. I never imagined the kind of animal they'd found…

'It's a dragon!' Snotlout shouted in a war-like cry when he came back rushing for his hammer, which he a_lways_ carries with him. I heard him and rushed to where they all were.

'Uh oh, this can't be good.' I thought to myself. I was preparing myself psychologically to face a Gronkle or a Monstrous Nightmare, or something… But when I arrived to the place the others gathered I seriously wanted to smack them on the head.

'Ugh… you guys, it's only a Terror.' You should've seen the picture, Toothless. It was so cruel! All of them, every single one of them were pointing at the little dragon with their weapons, and it wasn't even a full grown Terror, it was a hatchling!" Hiccup exclaimed with growing pain in his voice. Toothless growled infuriated.

"They're _all_ the same, aren't they? They're all murderers, even the children!" He hissed. Hiccup looked understandingly at Toothless. He scratched him behind his ear and continued.

"I know, buddy. Do you want to hear the rest? You don't have to if you don't want." Hiccup asked his friend. Toothless sniffed angrily, but he nodded.

"'Okay, step aside ladies; this one is mine.' Snotlout said ready to the cornered little dragon.

'No, Snotlout! What do you think you're doing?' I asked, exalted.

'I'm gonna kill it.' He simply stated, 'Get out of my way, Hiccup.' He said, pushing me almost with no effort but I stepped in between the dragon and him again.

'No, he's no harm! It's only a hatchling.' I said unable to believe what the others were about to do.

'It's still a dragon, Hiccup!' Astrid exclaimed very angrily at me.

'But it's innocent! He can't harm us!' I defended the dragon which was now whining; probably scared that we were shouting.

'Whatever, Hiccup. It's just a dragon!' Ruffnut pleaded.

'Move away!' Tuff said.

'No, you guys! This is not right!' I protested, but Tuff elbowed me, managing to knock me off my feet. As they were about to chop the Terrible Terror's head I stood up and I don't know how, but I managed to tackle Snotlout making him only rip the Terror's wing a little. The rest stood shocked, looking at me as the tiny dragon ran away, whining.

'What's the matter with you?' Astrid exclaimed, helping Snotlout up. I was still on the floor.

'You guys were going to murder that little thing for no reason!' I defended.

'No, we were going to kill a dragon; our enemy, Hiccup, a _dragon_.' She answered. 'I don't get how is it that you're the best at dragon training but you won't bring yourself to kill one miserable hatchling.'

'Whatever, that's not an excuse. Being the best at something doesn't give you the right to brag.' I said. I felt really weird in that moment, Toothless. Personally I had never felt what it felt like to be enraged, but that day, they managed to get the worst out of me. I felt so angry; they were going to kill that dragon for fun. It remembered of me, when they used to pick on me for no reason at all. That made me even more furious. I mean, it's okay that they bully me; I can take it, but that dragon couldn't defend himself. Argh! I don't get where the fun is in humiliating someone else!" Hiccup exclaimed, kicking the dirt and standing up. Toothless followed him and whimpered.

"I'm sorry, I got carried away. So we were in the middle of the fight when they forgot that I had been even invited with them, they began picking on me.

'I know. He's weak, like always. He's just been lying all this time; he's tricking us so we talk to him.' Snotlout said offended that I tackled him. 'He is still Hiccup the Useless! Ha!' The others laughed, except for Astrid, who looked exceptionally enraged. I swear, Toothless, that if I hadn't such a bad aim I would've punch him right on the face. I stood up and leveled myself with him, Snotlout stopped laughing and I looked straight into his eyes.

'Whatever, I don't care what stupid names you come up with for me. I'm glad we're not actually friends and for the record, I never _asked_ you to invite me here. You came praising me, begging almost, that I would be with you.' With that said, I walked back to our settlement to pick my things, decided to come back here to look for you but I stopped.

'Like we're gonna buy that, Hiccup. It's no secret you've _always_ wanted to kill a dragon. Why didn't you right now? You know if you did everyone would accept you, you'd stop being the weirdo that never comes out. You'd have friends.' Ruffnut added. I turned with my blood boiling.

'For your information, I _do_ have friends.' This made every one chuckle –even Astrid.

'Who? Toothless, your newt?' Tuffnut teased.

I smiled darkly at him and turned away while saying 'I'd much rather be with him than you.'

'Hiccup, wait!' Fishlegs pleaded.

'No, Fishlegs, let him go. He's too much of a wimp to even put a fight.' Snotlout said. 'Let him go and play with his imaginary friends.' I tried really hard not to listen to his insults, to block them away.

'We all know his father's gonna disinherit him anyway…' Snotlout added. I turned back to him.

'What was that again?' I asked infuriated. 'Say that one more time.'

'Your dad is going to— Ah!" I tackled him again hoping to at least get the breath out of him. But he punched me in the eye first. I could only hear the girls and Fishlegs yelling us to stop and Tuffnut cheering Snotlout, but then a louder cry interrupted us.

From the back of the cascade a full grown Zippleback emerged, quite pissed we seemingly awaked him. We stopped fighting and we just stood shocked. The first to react was Astrid and then Snotlout shoved me away, they charged at the dragon at the same time, followed by Tuffnut and Ruffnut and finally Fishlegs. I was a little disoriented from Snotlout's punch but I managed to run after them.

'NO GUYS, STOP!' I yelled, 'You'll get hurt!'

'Stay back, Hiccup!' Astrid shouted. She somersaulted and then scratched the Zippelback's front paw which made him furious. He began secreting the combustible gas and the others attacked him. Astrid rushed for something to fill with water but I reached her.

'No, Astrid! Get out of here, let me deal with this.'

'Not a chance!' She pushed me away, I fell face first to the ground. By the corner of my eye I could see the Zippleback had knocked Astrid down. The fish basket was right next to me and I remembered we had brought smoked eel; I pulled it out and ran towards the dragon.

'What's he doing?' Snotlout asked perplexed. I waved the eel in front of him making him back out a little. He screeched.

'No, no, no! Go away, go away! They're gonna kill you. Go! Run you stupid dragon, run!' He didn't care. He was too upset to listen. He kept producing combustible gas and poured it on top of us. I looked for Astrid because the others were retiring now. They ran away.

'Guys, wait! Astrid's unconscious! Wait!' I pleaded with them but they kept running. The gas made it hard to find Astrid. It was only the dragon and me now.

'Please, just go! They don't know what they were doing, don't hurt them please!'" Hiccup stopped, it was hurting him to talk. His voice was breaking and tears were beginning to well up in his eyes. He felt Toothless' gentle nod on his leg and he snapped out of it.

"So you're sad about Astrid?" Toothless purred.

"I saw when he moved his head from side to side and the other head lighted the gas. Astrid was in the middle of it. I looked furiously at him and then ran for Astrid. She was crying because she didn't find anyone and she couldn't make out where she was. When I found her I made her jump to the river with me. The forest burned for some hours, the Zippleback's fuel didn't last too long fortunately. When it was all over, the cascades were a whole different place. It took me an effort not to cry.

'Are you okay?' I asked Astrid who was coughing some water out.

'What happened?' She asked me back. 'It was a Zippleback; it knocked you out and lighted a fire while you were unconscious.

'Where are the others?'

'They ran away. I'm not sure if the fire caught up with them or not.'

'We have to go and check.'

'Okay,' I agreed then gasped. 'Astrid, your arms are burnt!'

'You're burnt too, shake it off, it's not that much of a deal.' She said, her voice was empty of all emotion, she was cold as ice.

'Are you mad at me?' I asked sheepishly.

'Am I mad at you? _Am I mad at you? _If you hadn't put off that little scene with the Terrible Terror, this wouldn't have happened. You wouldn't have fought with Snotlout, we wouldn't have been attacked, this would've been a normal day out! I'm not going to even ask if you dared to kill that dragon, I already know the answer. Why can't you be like everybody else?' She yelled at me and ran away. I didn't attempt to follow her. I waited until it was dark and let the left embers on the trees light my way to home.'" Hiccup finished and let silence reign.

"Oh, gosh Hiccup. I'm sorry. And how did you do after that?" Toothless purred with pity.

"I didn't come out the next day, I was so burnt even my clothes would hurt. Naturally Gobber heard the story and came to check on me, thank the gods he didn't scold me. He just looked at me pitifully and told me to take care of myself and that I could take as many days off dragon training as I wanted. I felt really bad, Toothless. I wanted to come out here. I was planning to come to camp with you, but I was afraid I would stumble across that Zippleback again."

"I guess what you always say does apply to us too, not all of us are as friendly… I'm sorry, Hiccup." Toothless whined.

"It's okay, buddy." Hiccup said, patting the dragon on the head.

"And the other hatchlings?" Toothless asked.

"The others arrived to their homes covered in ashes and Astrid; well… her parents have a thing or two to say to my dad. But in general, they're fine. No one talks to me in Berk, but I've been worse." Hiccup said trying to wear a smile on his face, but it only made his expression look more saddening.

"I brought my camping things." Hiccup said hiccupping a little, while he walked to the cave he hid in hours ago. "I hope you don't mind a little company." He said rubbing his eyes and finding composure. Toothless gave him his toothless smile.

"'Course not!" He grumbled helping Hiccup pull his tent near the fire. "I'll even teach you how to sleep upside down, it'll be fun!"

"Ha, ha, thanks, bud. It'll be a slumber party; we'll see who falls asleep first and we'll tell horror stories."

After Hiccup set up the tent and Toothless juiced the fire a bit more, Hiccup pulled out some extra fish he had brought for himself, bread, and mead, but he finished sharing everything with Toothless.

"Thanks for being my friend, Toothless." Hiccup muttered, sleepy due to his full belly. "Between you and me humans aren't that much fun, plus you can fly." He smiled warmly. Toothless nodded and surrounded the boy with his wing, patiently waiting until he fell asleep. He felt Hiccup hugged him tightly, and he purred affectionately. Once he was sure Hiccup was completely dozed off he managed to put him in his tent.

He sniffled and narrowed his eyes furiously. He was a downed dragon, but he still was a Night Fury. No Zippleback steps on a Night Fury's territory, that's a golden rule among dragons. Good thing Hiccup was asleep and couldn't see what he was about to do. If Hiccup couldn't bring himself to kill a dragon, Toothless would get close enough to that. Besides, his climbing skills had improved a lot and after all, it was a new moon night. He'd be covered; the Zippleback wouldn't know what hit him. Toothless knows where the cascades are. And the most important of all; he had to be sure Snotlout would be delivered with his beautifying materials. No being steps over Hiccup without Toothless doing something about it. Period.

* * *

**a/n: Whew, that was long. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! :D Please review I wanna know your guys' opinion. This is it, for now. Until the next story, my dear friends :) **


	3. Sneak Attack

**A/N: Alrighty! Third chapter for this story. Actually I have to confess I was planning to leave it as a two shot; but being that you guys seemed to enjoy it so much I decided to juice the story a little more. So, in this one... whew, we see revengeful Toothless ): I know, it's not very nice. He's planning to kill that Zippleback, we all know Night Fury beats Zippleback, right? S: Poor dragon, Toothless IS NOT very happy with him... Hope you enjoy it! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD, Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell do. **

* * *

How to Speak with Dragons without Actually Speaking Dragonese

A HTTYD Fanfic by Avatard n-n

Chapter 3: Sneak Attack

Toothless couldn't believe it had actually taken him a longer than he expected to climb his way out of the cove. In the period he's been hanging out with Hiccup he's made himself incredibly dependant to human care, but his devilish side was about to come out again. After he had climbed out of the cove, finding the way to Idun's Cascades was a lot easier. He had become acquainted with running and he was getting good at it. He made no sound, barely even touched the floor; without Hiccup he couldn't fly but he used his wings to be a very light runner. He hardly left any traces. The smell of burnt trees and earth turned more prominent as he approached that Zippleback's hide place. Toothless hid behind a large bush and he studied his pray.

"This is going to be an easy kill." He decided. The Zippleback was asleep and Toothless guarded the exact moment to charge his deadly fire bolt at him. There were some Terrible Terrors scrambling around the Zippleback, an unusual behavior for dragons, he admitted but nonetheless it was a distracting factor. For all that he knew; he'd have to wait until the Terrors fell asleep.

* * *

Astrid Hofferson rolled restlessly around her bed; no position could make her comfortable tonight. Mainly it was the burns, but there was a nagging thought bothering her mind with each passing night; a thought that was responsible for turning her insomniac.

"Hiccup" She mumbled before shifting her position again. Finally, she gave up on the subject.

"This isn't sleeping." She complained as she squeezed her eyes shut hoping it would appease her, but nothing happened. She sighed and slowly opened them, resolving to stare at the ceiling. The past events of three days ago invaded her mind as soon as she let her guard down. It wasn't that she minded the other teens making fun at Hiccup, but for some reason, she couldn't stop thinking that all this misunderstanding had been her fault. Maybe it was because Hiccup had finally been brave enough to show them all the cruel truth: They're all a bunch of morons and Hiccup doesn't need their friendship or pity, whatsoever. _He_ didn't need _her_ friendship or pity. She wondered about that 'Toothless' he mentioned that day, does it have to do anything with his hide out? Is 'Toothless' really a newt? Maybe, Hiccup's Hiccup; poor kid is willing to befriend animals in order to keep himself mentally sane.

The obvious answer to her questions lingered in her head only to begin itching in her mouth for her to say it out loud.

"I have to follow him." But then, Astrid sighed. No, she couldn't follow him. She can, but she's afraid of what she might find. Maybe Hiccup just had his Viking abilities deep hidden under his skin and he is as matter of fact better than Astrid, it would make sense; after all he's a Haddock. But then again something didn't fit quite right. Why would he leave every afternoon when he's finally making himself some fame around the village? His reaction a couple days ago made it more than clear to her, but the sole thought made Astrid feel sick to her stomach. Why of all people, Hiccup would befriend dragons? She's more than willing to bet that that so called 'Toothless' is as matter of fact a dragon, probably a Terrible Terror since he substituted it for a newt. Hiccup's not that brave to tame something larger than that. But then she gasped in enlightment, she jerked right up.

"The other day…" She muttered, linking all the evidence. The other day, when there was a dragon attack, Hiccup mentioned he had captured a Night Fury. The villagers didn't believe him, but she actually saw him building that weird thing that could throw nets out. What if it was true? What if Hiccup actually caught a Night Fury and befriended him…? She shook her head, trying to reject what her deductive mind just discovered.

"No, it can't be. Why would he? It's like suicide… It's treason! His dad would never forgive him." She muttered to herself. Good, she'd answer her questions but trying to figure out Hiccup always left her with more questions than answers.

"No, Hiccup would never do that." She finally concluded. Even Hiccup has his limits and that hypothesis she just came up with was by far crazy. No, Hiccup would never do that. With that final thought, she got to bed again hopeful she would conceal some sleep.

"No, he's not that crazy." Astrid thought.

The Terrible Terrors were all asleep now. It was a shame they'd have to pay for what that Zippleback did to Hiccup, but sometimes sacrifices must be made. Toothless focused his aim right for the cascade's cave; the Zippleback's hideout, and the only thing that announced his attack was his peculiar sound when blasting fire. In seconds, the forest came alive with fire again. Part of his blast was quenched by the water, but the rest burned the ground making the Zippleback and the Terrible Terrors come out immediately afraid and shocked. Toothless revealed himself as the Zippleback growled, contesting Toothless to a fight. Toothless growled fiercely in return, making sure the Zippleback didn't spot his greatest weakness; his missing fin. One of the Zippleback's head regurgitated gas while the other immediately lighted it. Toothless blasted them while he tried to dodge the fire around him. This would be harder than he thought; just like the cove. No problem.

* * *

Hiccup stirred under the covers a mysterious someone had put on for him. There was something missing, namely a huge, scaled bulk for him to snuggle against. He woke up a little disoriented, his eyes tried to sink everything in but the left embers flicking in the bonfire weren't of much use. Fortunately, his eyes adapted quickly to the dark and that's when he realized it; Toothless was missing. He became instantly anxious… Where'd he go? Why'd he leave? When did he leave? Did he escape from him? Or was he coming back? How on earth did he manage to climb out? These and more questions sprang from Hiccup's mind, like water from a spring. However, his reasoning caught up quickly. He knew Toothless was the revengeful kind. If he were Toothless, he'd exactly do the same thing he probably is doing right now; chase after the Zippleback. That's when everything shaped up in Hiccup's memory again; he remembered Toothless dark stare when he mentioned the Zippleback's intervention in his story. Hiccup didn't need to speak Dragonese to know what that meant. Toothless was out for revenge; all for Hiccup's sake.

"Oh, no…" Hiccup sighed, alarmed. "I have to stop him!" He exclaimed practically throwing himself to the bonfire, trying to make some fire for his torch.

He knew Toothless' objective, and guilty or not, he wouldn't let Toothless become a murderer for him. He probably was already, but Hiccup was certain Toothless had never killed in other malice rather than hunting. He _had_ to find Toothless, killing that Zippleback wasn't worth it. He might get hurt, Toothless can't fly.

"What if something happens to him?" Without further ado, Hiccup lighted his torch and ran, hopeful to find sooner rather than later Toothless' trail.

* * *

Toothless discovered the reason why humans called this dragon he was fighting against "Hideous Zippleback". It tougher than it looked to beat him. Now, Toothless wasn't doing all that bad. But he wished he could fly just to put a definite end to it. The Zippleback could fly, which made Toothless' revenge harder than it should be. Fortunately, so far he had managed to burn its right wing and the tip of the tail. The Zippleback had a rough time trying to keep balance in the air. It was losing. All it took for this fight to end was a single blast, but things for Toothless are never that simple; not when you have the surprise factor as your best friend.

"Toothless! NO!" The defenseless, burnt human hatchling threw himself over Toothless to prevent him from blasting, which he successfully did.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? GO BACK TO THE COVE YOU STUPID HUMAN!" Toothless growled infuriated Hiccup had ruined his delivery. And since when Hiccup smelled so horridly?

"No, Toothless! Listen to me, it's not worth it!" Hiccup begged his dragon friend, trying to push his snout so they would leave. Toothless sniffed the awful smell, so he pulled back a little. The Zippleback took this advantage and sprayed combustible gas onto them.

"LOOK WHAT YOU'RE DOING, HICCUP! LEAVE NOW, OR I SWEAR BY MY MISSING FIN I'LL LIGHT YOU ON FIRE!" Toothless snarled, but Hiccup wasn't afraid. He knew Toothless was just desperate, and he knew exactly what the cause was. He addressed the Zippleback in a way that he only uses when he's forced to.

"STOP NOW!" Hiccup roared, quite angrily, by the way. The Zippleback was startled by this tiny human's bravery –and also was Toothless for that matter. The Zippleback hissed a laugh at this unlikely midnight snack. A bite, that's all it would take for him to get rid of the insignificant human. He approached him.

"I SAID STOP RIGHT NOW!" Hiccup commanded again, throwing out a generous amount of eels in front of the Zippleback. It drew back, grossed and infuriated. Toothless took the shot; he blasted for the other wing and didn't miss. The Zippleback growled in pain.

"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed, disappointed.

The Zippleback whined and retired to his hide out, defeated. Toothless sniffed with a single nod as a sign of conclusion, then, he looked at Hiccup a little annoyed but decided it was all for the best. Hiccup, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel sorry for the Zippleback. He could still hear the whining and the implied pain. What he proceeded to do, though, was completely stupid yet characteristic of him.

"Stay here." Hiccup ordered Toothless.

"What am I now, a dog?" Toothless growled. Hiccup only fulminated at him with his stare.

Cautiously, Hiccup entered the Zippleback's hideout. In that moment like the biggest jerk in Viking history. He realized why the Zippleback had been so defensive and irritable the day he came with the other kids. He wasn't a "he", he was a "she" and she was becoming a mommy. The Zippleback had hatched an egg and with her wings hurt, now she wouldn't be able to feed her hatchling. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"This only happens to me." He muttered. The Zippleback looked at Hiccup with frustration in its eyes. Hiccup smiled at him.

"I'm sorry." Hiccup said. "I… I think you scared us the other day. You know, Vikings are generally stupid but I was just trying to help. Excuse my friend over there," He signaled outside, for Toothless. "He's a little defensive of me… This shouldn't have happened. I feel awful for your little hatchling." The Zippleback looked in curiosity at this kid, no Viking had ever tried to speak with a dragon before, much less she had heard of a Viking that was friends with a dragon. This was something unique. She nodded, accepting the little Viking's apology.

"I'll try to help you to recover soon, so you can take care of your baby." The Zippleback growled, accepting the kid's help. He smiled friendlily, she did too. Were there more of this kind of Vikings, their homes would be so different.

"Okay, I have to go now." The boy said. "My name is Hiccup, by the way." The Zippleback growled, in her language, saying his name again. Hiccup smiled content and then came out. Toothless stared at him perplexed. Hiccup only slapped the dragon on his head.

"She's expecting a baby, you moron!" Hiccup scolded Toothless. Toothless whined a sound of apology and then he bowed his head down in shame. He never knew how much harm he'd made.

"Good thing she'll be able to recover. Otherwise I might as well build a kart to deliver fish to you two!" Hiccup said and then yawned rubbing his eye, realizing he was cutting himself of sleep. Toothless whined again, apologizing.

"It's okay, as long as you learned your lesson –I did. It's actually the very reason why I trusted you in first place."

"And what is that reason?" Toothless purred his question, immensely curious.

"No matter how frightening or mean someone looks, he isn't necessarily bad. There's a logical reason behind every illogical event." Hiccup stated, but it seemed that in terms of science, not even Toothless would understand him. He rolled his eyes, showing a smile.

"It means that behind everyone's actions –no matter good or bad, there is always a reason that explains why they did such thing." Toothless purred in enlightment only to be interrupted by a loud thunder to which cold rain followed, turning off the last remains of the fire left over by the dragons' fight.

"Come on; let's go to the cove before we catch a cold!" Hiccup hurried. Toothless grabbed Hiccup with his snout by Hiccup's clothes and ran, his objective being to protect little, fragile Hiccup from the cold.

* * *

**a/n: Okay, I hope you liked it! The Zippleback turned out to be a mommy ^_^ -what? You wouldn't expect me to turn our beloved Toothless into a merciless murderer without a good reason, would you? No. Besides, this is a kids' story for goodness sake! We've got to teach some morals here :P Also, that little Astrid vignette has some story later on... She's beginning to regret the way she treats Hiccup (She should! D: ) So, yeah... As always, please review! I like to know your guys' opinion. Till the next chapter. :D**

**Oh, some self promotion here, if you like my stories you should check out my profile. There are some more HTTYD fics you might also enjoy! :3 Okay, I'm done now.**


	4. How to Find Hiccup

**A/N: Hey! It's been long, hasn't it? Well, what can I say, I missed writing fanfiction ^^ plus a good reviewer of mine had the kindness to tell me leaving stories to become orphans was rude and not very nice. I followed her advise to keep writing... a couple months later, but it's the intention what counts, right? Still, I'm not going to lie, I AM rusty, so yeah... this fic, it's not one of my bests, you know. But I did my best at attempting to rescue some of the stories fluidness. And, it might be just me, but I think my own fluidness at the English language is a bit off too, for those who don't know, it isn't my first language, so that's kind of a minus point to the story. Okay, I'm done complaning about my writing, I'll just let you read on ^^ Sooo, this chapter, yeah... I think the title is self explainatory, so... enjoy :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own HTTYD, Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks do. **

* * *

HTTYD- How to Speak with a Dragon without Actually Speaking Dragonese

Chapter 4: How to Find Hiccup

It had been a couple of days since Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, namely Hiccup the Useless, who was no less than the chieftain's son went out missing. And frankly, this unsettled Astrid a little. But it wasn't until the third morning since she last saw Hiccup when she shared her worries with the rest of her friends, considering the expression all of them wore on their face.

"Hey," she muttered her greetings when she arrived to the mess hall and joined the rest of the kids for breakfast.

"Hey" they all answered back, Astrid's same meek tone reflecting on their voice.

"Have you seen him?" Astrid asked whispering and leaning towards the table in order for Gobber not to hear her, he was chatting with a friend only some seats away from them.

"No." They said.

"I think we've really done it this time." Fishlegs said, revealing anxiousness in his words. "What if he... _ran away_?"

Fishlegs' suggestion made them stare among themselves with fear. It could be; it's the type of thing Hiccup would do.

"Oh no... What if Gobber notices?" Ruffnut said.

"Gobber? ... What if Chief STOIC notices! We're all be dead kids walking!" said Snotlout, forgetting he ever bragged about his majestic bravery.

The teen Vikings kept musing, feeling how their knees trembled with the sole thought of the punishment Chief Stoic would make them suffer for making his son escape Berk. It was true Hiccup and Stoic weren't especially close, but they were still a family.

"Oh gods..." Fishlegs whined cowardly, causing a massive hysteria.

"Chief Stoic is going to banish us!"

"He'll toss us to be dragon food!"

"He'll kill us!"

"Everyone relax!" Astrid exclaimed. "No one is going to be banished, or killed or become dragon food! Hiccup is just probably hiding. It wouldn't be the first time he does something like that."

Astrid's perfectly timed common sense brought a little peace to the kids' conscience. It was natural of Hiccup to hide after what happened to them a few days ago. Astrid suspected he expected for them to tell on him and what happened. But they hadn't. True, they did not speak to him anymore, but the version of events that was known to the rest of the village was that they were walking around the woods, encountered a Zippleback, which immediately attacked them and they got caught in the fire. But Hiccup did not know that.

"So what are we going to do?" Fishlegs asked. "Gobber will notice today in Dragon Training."

"This is what we'll do." said Astrid "We'll go to Dragon Training just like any other day and we'll tell Gobber Hiccup asked us to tell him he would skip Dragon Training because he felt sick to his stomach."

"Uh..." Tuffnut interrupted, "that doesn't exactly solve the problem, Astrid."

"I know. That is why after Dragon Training we will go into the woods again and we will find Hiccup."

"But what if we find that dragon again?" Fishlegs asked.

"We kill it." Astrid said coldly. There was a solemn silence that followed after that instruction, a silence that were Gobber not to interrupt moments later it would've remained for the day.

"All right, who's ready for some Dragon Training?" Gobber said with that booming voice of his. "Today we'll work with the class' favorite – The Zippleback"

The kids laughed nervously at the word. Maintaining the cool would be harder than it looked.

"Okay... so, one, two, three, four, five... where's the sixth?...Where is Hiccup?" Gobber asked.

"Uh... um..." Astrid cleared her throat, "He asked me to tell you that he wouldn't come today because... uh, his stomach felt a little unsettled."

Gobber made a face of pain. He didn't need to be told how nasty that business could get. If anything, illnesses are the Viking's weak point.

"That's okay, thanks for telling me, Astrid. The poor boy must be wishing he weren't ever born right now." Which was true, but not necessarily in the way Gobber thought.

Dragon Training went out smoothly, they worked on attacking skills. And for the first time in days Astrid was once again the star student, but to her annoyance, she simply could not bring herself to savor her victory, all because one heck of a pain called Hiccup.

Finally it came the gang's moment to play out the plan Astrid had so spontaneously made. And to Snotlout and Tuffnut's disappointment, they had to skip their afternoon meal. So, with an empty stomach and the bad humor that comes along with it, they set out to look for their missing classmate. Little did they know that Hiccup would not be anywhere to be found for the whole afternoon. Even if they came across the cove they would find it empty, and there's a perfectly logical reason for this. Hiccup's favorite way to cheer up was nothing less than flying around with Toothless.

"Whooo hoo!" Hiccup cheered as Toothless dived towards the sea for the third time and just inches before they hit the water, he twirled to once more to go up into the sky. Toothless grinned in satisfaction when he heard Hiccup laughing excitedly.

"Ha ha ha! Hey, buddy" Hiccup said when they were high up in the sky again. "Remember when we almost crashed against the rocks?"

"How couldn't I?" Toothless grumbled not amused. "I thought we were going to die!"

"We were close so close, but hey, I finally learned how to use your fin's pedal."

"Yeah, that's all it took…" Toothless purred with a sarcastic tone.

"Wanna try it again?" Hiccup asked excitedly.

"DO I WANT TO TRY AGAIN?" grumbled Toothless, "Are you crazy? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

Hiccup remained silent, noticing Toothless was not too keen on the idea.

"Let's do it!" Toothless purred with determination and a devilish grin. "But this time, we're going to make it a little more… interesting."

"What was that, bud? I didn't quite catch what you –Ahh!"

And that's when Toothless dived vertically towards the woods of Raven Point.

Hiccup immediately reacted assuming the right riding position, leaning and moving in sync with Toothless, pedaling the fin with excellent precision; Hiccup saw how fast the trees past, they didn't look like trees, they were just a brown and green blur that occasionally brushed Hiccup's face. Adrenaline rushed through the pair's blood; they went faster, went up higher and higher to descend drastically. They loved the feeling of flying, Toothless knew. That is why he insisted in waking up Hiccup to fly, Toothless knew his friend enough to guess he would need a serious cheer up after what he told him last night.

"Alright Toothless, let's slow down for a while." Hiccup said rubbing his dragon's ear, to which Toothless obeyed and slowed down his flight to a light glide. The landscape transformed at once; the golden light that filtered through the woods made it look like beams of gold washed certain parts of the greenery. It was very pacific and comforting, it was very…

"Hiccup?" A voice called. A voice that made Hiccup petrified of fear.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called again.

"Wait a sec, buddy." Hiccup whispered.

"What? Why? What's going on?" Toothless purred.

"Shh!" Hiccup hushed briskly. "That's Astrid." He muttered, to which Toothless growled.

"That…Viking."

"Toothless!" Unfortunately, Hiccup muttered a little too loud for Astrid to hear. She was nowhere to be seen, but little did Hiccup know, she was absentmindedly looking for him just across a bunch of dense bushes.

"Toothless?" Astrid said to herself. She gasped, that was him somewhere in the woods. "Hiccup? Hiccup!"

"Quick, we have to get out of here buddy!"

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Toothless turned the opposite direction but in the distance he noticed a pair of hatchlings with yellow hair, both too busy engaged in a fight with each other to notice the presence of him and his friend. Toothless quietly turned away to the west, but he also heard someone calling Hiccup's name in that direction. He tried the east, but something similar happened.

"We're trapped." Toothless grumbled.

"We're dead!" Hiccup muttered. "What are we going to do?"

"We can't fly," purred Toothless "they're going to see us." And so he descended silently and procured to walk with Hiccup still riding his back.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called again, she sounded nearer but the ever so convenient fawn of the forest covered them well.

"Oh, gods no… what are we going to do?" Hiccup muttered so anxious, his hands started sweating; making Toothless uncomfortable.

"The best is to hide and wait for them to leave." Toothless suggested with a purr. He scanned all around him until he spotted a hollowed fallen tree; it was big enough to fit the both of them in.

"You've got the right idea." Hiccup said.

Hurriedly but as quiet as they could, they went into the tree to hide. And while Toothless had never really been bothered by insects, Hiccup was well on his way to fainting. He had always been grossed out by those little pains. In fact he thought he had killed more insects in his life than any dragons they had killed in Berk.

"This is disgusting." Hiccup complained.

"Well, it's this or letting your girlfriend know I'm not exactly what they call a newt." Toothless growled quietly in return.

"Hiccup!" Someone called. It was Fishlegs this time, he caught up with Astrid.

"Astrid, he's not here!" Fishlegs said with such worry, it sounded like he was going to cry. "You said he'd be here!"

Astrid sighed with frustration. She knew what she had said, and she thought she was right. But it seemed she was not all that correct.

"What are we going to do? What if his dad finds out he ran away because of us?"

Toothless was about to purr with sarcasm, but Hiccup signaled him to be quiet.

"He won't. Hiccup is not that stupid, he couldn't have run away. Besides, he'd be dead the moment he stepped outside Berk."

"I wouldn't!" Hiccup protested inaudibly. "I know these woods better than they do!"

Toothless produced a quiet hiss, his equivalent to shushing his human friend up.

"Sorry." Hiccup mouthed.

Moments later, the rest of the gang caught up too with Astrid and Fishlegs, all three of them as deceived as the pair. They were in big trouble this time, and they knew it.

"I'm tired." Snotlout said, leaning to a big fallen tree next to him. It creaked, menacing to crack down, to which Toothless and Hiccup winced with suspense.

"Face it, Astrid. He's not here." Ruffnut said.

"Yeah, we've been looking for hours. He's not here." Her brother agreed.

Astrid felt frustrated and began to worry, too. They were right to doubt, maybe Hiccup really did leave.

"Besides, the sun's already setting and Gobber is going to be worrying. That is if he's not worrying already." Fishlegs added.

"Ugh… fine, fine. But we'll come back to look for him tomorrow, too." Astrid agreed, annoyed at her friends' indisposition to accomplish their mission. She saw why they were so easy to beat at Dragon Training.

Hiccup and Toothless looked at each other with complicity, feeling the laughter of freedom and irony beginning to build up within them. Their lungs breathed with more ease, now that it was certain they were going to pull it off.

"Let's rest a bit before going back." Astrid said, trying to be condescending. "We've walked a lot today."

She sat by Snotlout, climbing up to the tree and causing it to creak slightly. Ruff and Tuff followed and finally Fishlegs joined them, too, causing the tree to truly quiver this time. It seemed like a matter of time before the tree cracked down on top of the pair of hiding misfits.

Hiccup turned to see Toothless with desperation, only to find out he was just as scared as him. It seemed like the tree would break in any minute.

The Viking lot sat without saying a thing, they just dangled their feet enjoying the sensation of resting their feet. Tuffnut chuckled.

"Hiccup turned out to be harder to find than we thought, right?"

"Yeah, I figured he wouldn't be that smart." Snotlout said.

Meanwhile Hiccup dropped his jaw in disbelief; stupid him? Not in a hundred years. Toothless hissed at the irony, though.

"Please," Ruffnut said "He's stuck in the armory shop the whole day; he's got to know _something_."

"You mean like how to hunt trolls and Night Furies?" said Snotlout, laughing. They all joined in, except for Astrid. She couldn't help but think that this very way of referring to Hiccup was what got them in trouble in the first place.

Toothless on the other hand, was pondering on whether or not he should step outside and turn them into roasted Viking. He growled, not caring if they heard him.

"Shh, Toothless!" Hiccup whispered, smacking the back of his head. Toothless turned to him whining.

"But listen to what they're saying about you!"

"I don't care, they're going to discover us!" Hiccup whispered back. Fortunately, the kids were laughing so hard, they didn't hear the pair's argument.

"Honestly, I don't know what's on that guy's head." Ruffnut said.

"Well… I'll tell you what isn't. AIR, as in what you have for instead of a brain." Toothless growled.

"But who could really blame him, the guy was born a weirdo." Snotlout said, to which everybody else, again except for Astrid, laughed.

"What's wrong, babe?" Snotlout asked, noticing Astrid's long silence.

"Nothing." She rapidly retorted. The truth was she was worried about Hiccup. He wasn't exactly her friend but she had always felt certain sympathy for the guy; it wasn't his fault that he was different from your average Viking.

"She's in love with Hiccup" Tuffnut teased, the others laughed at the lovey-dovey way he said it.

Even Toothless laughed; Hiccup turned bright crimson when he heard Tuffnut say that. Toothless had always thought Hiccup looked funny when he felt embarrassed.

"I'm not!" Astrid said, unable to prevent her cheeks from turning a glowing red. "I'm just thinking about how I'm going to stop Stoic from hanging all five of us when he finds out Hiccup ran away because of us, you genius!"

"Whatever." Tuff said. "Mrs. Haddock." He muttered that last part, but Astrid still heard it and she rightfully punched him on the stomach, knocking his breath out.

"Oh, I'm hurt. I am very much hurt!"

"What was that last part?" She asked in a girly way.

"Nothing…" He sighed.

"Good. I wouldn't be with that toothpick even if he was the last guy alive in Berk."

Although Hiccup had always been conscious Astrid was definitely out of his possibilities, this had been the closest he had ever been from feeling her rejection. He found it more hurtful than he'd imagined.

"He's clumsy, weird and no matter how much he tries, he'll never be a true Viking." Astrid said, reassuring her absolute dislike for Hiccup. "Now come on, there's not much daylight left."

Toothless felt really angry at that girl. He hated all things and persons Viking, but for some reason, that Astrid simply brought the worst of him; her and all her ignorant little friends. He didn't need to look at Hiccup to know that statement brought him to tears, and he had to do something about it, it didn't matter how much Hiccup cared about Toothless being seen. That was enough.

The Viking teens were just leaving their hiding spot when Toothless seized an opportunity to reveal himself while Hiccup was distracted, crying. He ran towards the group and growled, cornering all five of them between a pair of big rocks.

Fishlegs stuttered "It…it's a—

"NIGHT FURY!" The twins exclaimed in horror.

Toothless growled and threw a few snarls at them, inflicting utter terror in the human hatchlings.

"You wanna bully somebody? Try me. _I _can fight back, you cowards!"

Snotlout was trying to grab his hammer, which he so mindlessly threw away the moment he tried to escape, but Toothless growled at him.

"Don't…" Astrid whispered, Toothless directed his powerful stare to her.

"You in particular" Toothless growled. "You think you're all that, don't you?"

Astrid just stared at the dragon unable to hold tears from rolling down her cheeks; she had never been this close to these animals. She knew it, for the way the dragon stared at her, that this was the moment of her death. Toothless snarled to provoke some kind of reaction on the girl; she jumped startled and more tears sprang from her eyes.

"Please…" She said.

"TOOTHLESS!" A voice commanded with much authority. Toothless briefly turned his stare towards the empty tree and then stared back to the girl. He knew he'd be in trouble with Hiccup later, but he didn't care. If this was what it took to man Hiccup up and to give those kids a little taste of their own medicine, so be it.

"TOOTHLESS, COME BACK HERE!"

"No. If you don't do something about it, I will."

"DON'T MAKE ME COME OUT."

"Go. Ahead." Toothless dared his human and turned back to Astrid.

"That overgrown lizard is going to put me in a lot of trouble." Hiccup sighed to himself. He didn't blame Toothless, after all, he was just doing what he would never be able to do on his own—get revenge.

"TOOTHLESS, DO WHAT I SAY!" Hiccup ordered.

"No," Toothless growled "It's not like I'm going to eat them, Hiccup!"

It seemed odd, for some reason it seemed like the dragon was arguing with the voice coming from the fallen tree.

"Toothless?" Astrid asked, puzzled. And that voice… it sounded like Hiccup's.

"That dragon's going to make them his afternoon snack…" Hiccup said.

"Here goes nothing." Said Hiccup and ran towards Toothless, putting himself between his friend and the rest of the kids. They all dropped their jaws in disbelief. It couldn't be; how could it?

"No freaking way…" Astrid muttered.

"Oh my Thor." Ruffnut said.

"BACK! TOOTHLESS, BACK!" Hiccup said with a powerful voice that for the very first time in all of his life resembled that of his father. Toothless snarled on purpose, he had a plan to make Hiccup look awesome.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup said, ignoring the dragon's plan. "Don't make me repeat it, you reptile!"

Toothless drew back and assumed a tamed position, ready for Hiccup to climb up.

"RUN!" Snotlout exclaimed. And he certainly did not need to say it twice, for they all launched themselves out of their sight as fast as their legs could carry them.

"What were you thinking?" Hiccup exclaimed. "I know they're a pain but you didn't have to scare them like that!"

Toothless whined "I was just trying to help."

"Look buddy, I know you just wanted to help but I think you just got us in more trouble than what I can pull off."

"Oh no!" Hiccup exclaimed after a while, "We're dead, Toothless. They're going to tell Gobber!"

"So?" sniffed Toothless.

"So? So they're going to be really mad at me for being friends with you! And they're going to kill you for being friends with me! I have to think of something to fix this, and quick."

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**a/n: Whew, that was long. I think I have a complex for lost time... anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed just as much as I loved writing it. So, as always... reviews, please? Trust me, I love knowing what you guys think about what I write, and if you'd like, constructive criticism is also welcomed :) Oh, just a little update on the story, I'm proud to say it is on it's final chapters (after a year since I started writing it -rolls eyes-) so keep tuned! And again, thanks for reading ^^**

**-Avatardn-n**


	5. How to Make Hiccup Like You

I How to Speak with a Dragon Without Actually Speaking Dragonese

Chapter 5: How to Make Hiccup Like You

**A/N: Long story short, vacation's in session children! And after more than a year of hiatus I am back to finish this baby! Why? Because A) You people are wonderful readers! It warmed my heart to see reviews that dated from 2012 when I started writing the fic in 2010 or something! So yes, you all rule and deserve enormous piles of chocolate. B) HOLY SHIT I NEVER REALIZED THERE WAS A DRAGONS SERIES AND WHEN I FOUND OUT I WAS LIKE ALL OVER THE PLACE, AND I HAD SO MANY FEELS AND I HAD TO WRITE. And c) I should really, really finish what I started. So, without further ado, here's chapter five, enjoy it! And thank you for being such awesome readers, you guys. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

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He knew he'd had to do it. There was no other way around it, Hiccup would have to go back to Berk, eventually.

"They are going to burn you alive!" his best and only friend, Toothless the dragon, snarled at him in unintelligible sounds for our human hero. Toothless tugged at the back of Hiccup's shirt, trying to stop him from climbing out the cove. By now, the burn marks that had brought him to seek refuge here were all but forgotten.

"No, bud. I have to go," Hiccup sighed, managing to yank his shirt from Toothless's snout without ripping it off.

"No, you don't!" growled Toothless.

"Sorry Toothless, but if I don't show up, it will be worse."

The look on his human's friend's face was all Toothless needed to realize he was serious about this. All he wished, though, was to find a way to make this easier on Hiccup. Not being successful in the task, Toothless nuzzled Hiccup in an apologizing way before he climbed the first rock.

"That's okay, bud. It's not your fault. I'll be back with some fish for you tomorrow."

Toothless could only see Hiccup's figure disappear into one of the cove's crevices before he was left alone. But back at the village, things were a little different. Hiccup's fellow trainees were scrambling around nervously in the mess hall, trying to figure out what to do.

"Dra…dragon," Fishlegs peeped, breaking the kids' ominous silence. "Hiccup."

"He… was riding it," Ruffnut whispered right after in marvel.

"I can't believe that toothpick!" said Snotlout, more irritated by the fact that Hiccup; _Hiccup the Useless_, had found a way to tame a dragon than relieved by the fact he wouldn't actually have to face the chieftain. "Can you believe him? Keeping secrets like that?"

"Yep, total jerk," added Tuffnut.

"Wait until we tell Gobber and Chief Stoic, then he'll be in trouble." There was a mischievous smile on Snotlout's face as he imagined the horrors Hiccup would have to suffer when the chief found out about his little secret. But Astrid, who had kept quiet and thoughtful throughout her friends' lively interexchange, finally interrupted them.

"No," she said. "We're not telling them."

This revelation caused everyone's jaw to drop. After all, they were Vikings! And not just any Vikings, they were the dragon-slayers of Berk. To see Astrid determined to keep it a secret that the very son of the chief was fraternizing with them was more than the other three could possibly assimilate.

"Why not?" Snotlout said, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Think about it, who's going to believe you?"

"Well, everyone. Duh."

Astrid crossed her arms across her chest defensively, she's never been one to take rejection. "Just as we believed Hiccup about the Night Fury the night of the attack?"

"It's different, Astrid. We're not crazy like him," Snotlout reasoned, but Astrid had had it with Snotlout. He never learned, did he? Because she certainly did. What that meeting with Hiccup and his dragon in the woods had done to her perspective of him was clearly vastly different from what it had done to that of her friends. She was beginning to understand Hiccup, why he didn't like them. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if he came back and decided to ignore them for as long as they lived in the same village. He certainly had the right to treat them the way they had treated him in the past, but there was something; something she couldn't put a name to that unsettled her about this. Maybe it was the fact that for the first time they had proof Hiccup had been telling the truth all this time, maybe it was the realization that he wasn't as helpless as they thought and hence, he didn't really need them. Or maybe, it was the fact that deep, deep inside her, she did like Hiccup after all and that this time they had done it, _she had done it_. This time Hiccup would really be mad at them. So if there was any possibility she could redeem herself after treating Hiccup like less than dragon poop for so many years, it was shattered the minute they discovered his secret. The fact that they had to face yet another training session in which Hiccup would be missing did not help the subject at hand.

"Gobber!" Snotlout exclaimed as soon as the trainer entered the arena, where they were now waiting for the lesson to begin. "You'll never believe what we saw!"

"What I don't believe is that Hiccup is missing again."

"We saw him!" Snotlout said excitedly. "He's been hiding in the woods because he has a pet dragon!"

Gobber could only stare at the boy with pitiful surprise before he began laughing. "Oh, boy. And I thought Hiccup was good at making up stories!"

Astrid smiled smugly at Snotlout then. _Told ya_, she thought.

"But it's true, we saw it! Hiccup was riding a Night Fury, that's why he's-"

"Sorry to be late!" Hiccup said, rushing into the arena and causing everyone a shocked expression on their face.

"Hiccup!" Gobber said. "See Snotlout? No dragons."

"But… but…" Snotlout kept on blabbering as Hiccup passed right in front of him with a nonchalant look and struggled to grab one of the shields from the floor.

"All right, get ready, today we're working with the Hideous Zippleback," said Gobber.

Hiccup didn't miss the irony in this assignment, and for a change, he was slightly afraid to face the dragon today. Even though the reason why the one living in the woods had acted the way it did was already clear. Also, for a change, he did not use his knowledge in this class. He felt it was only tampering with his luck if he did, what he needed was to go back to being invisible and anonymous. Ending up best in the class again wouldn't do that but to Hiccup's bad luck, today's class was evasive maneuver. Hurdles. Jumping. Running. _Moving_. It took all of his will power not to scratch the animal to sleep mid-class, when he felt his legs would fall off after all that running. But after a long torturous class, at last, the Zippleback was locked back in its cage and Gobber called for the end of the session.

Hiccup tried to sneak out of the arena as stealthily as he could, but the others caught up with him fast.

"What happened to your dragon, Toothpick?" Snotlout sneered, but Hiccup kept walking. He wouldn't give into his game. "You sure sucked today. You couldn't find how to make them stop chasing you?"

Hiccup sighed and turned around to look at his fellow classmate. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Snotlout."

The twins snickered just as Fishlegs threw Hiccup a puzzled glance.

"But… the dragon. You… you were riding a dragon!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "How did you manage to… you know, make him not eat you?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes in exasperation, though he did feel bad. It wasn't Fishleg's fault, from them all, he was probably the only one who was genuinely curious about his skill. But he couldn't afford to let them know, besides, he had a plan.

"I already told you, I have no idea what you're talking about. I really have to go guys, I have chores in Gobber's shop."

Running as fast as his feet carried him, Hiccup fled away. He spent the whole afternoon in the shop, working on some tweaks for Toothless's saddle. He felt glad for the peace, as he had expected it'd be harder to get rid of his nagging fellow trainees.

"Why did you do it?"

The girl's voice took him by surprise, ruining the sketch of Toothless he was working on. Frantically, he looked for some other more innocent drawings to cover the dragon ones with before facing her.

"Astrid!" he exclaimed. "What… what are you doing here?"

The girl looked conflicted, she leaned on the frame of the door with her arms folded across her chest.

"You're not fooling me, Hiccup."

He sighed, he had a feeling this was so. Astrid is not as thickheaded as the rest. As judgmental, yes. As stubborn, definitely. But she's smarter than them. This is why he couldn't bring himself to look at her as he doodled on a blank page, trying to ignore her. He shrugged.

"Why did you— "

"I'm not telling you anything, Astrid."

After a long silence, she quietly said, "I won't tell anyone." It was until then that Hiccup turned to her, feeling puzzled, but Astrid's expression was sincere.

"You can trust me," she said. But Hiccup couldn't help but snort.

"Oh, really?" He said. "Why? Why would I?"

He felt his temper, which seldom does explode, rising up like he could spit fire from his mouth himself. He left his seat and started pacing around, aware that it was not just Astrid who he was mad at, but being unable to stop unleashing his frustration on her.

"Why would I tell you about him? Why would I betray my best friend so you just would accept me again?"

"Because… I want to understand."

Hiccup stopped right on his tracks and looked at Astrid. There it was, his chance to make things right. To have _one_ other person in Berk to understand why he loved Toothless so much, why'd he rather be killed than kill a dragon himself. But after a long silence, he shook his head in disbelief and answered, "No," before he left, rushing through the shop's back door.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted as she ran behind him. "Hiccup, wait!"

But it was useless. Hiccup knew the way to Raven Point like the back of his hand, so the minute he stepped into the woods, he disappeared.

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**a/n: Well, that was for the fifth chapter. Can you feel this story ending? 'Cause I sure do! I'll upload the next one as soon as I finish it :) **


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